Paul Ahlrich is a green developer and builder committed to building energy star homes for the market and implements "passive haus" principals to deliver outstanding energy efficiency savings to the buyer. Paul kindly spent a few hours on a Saturday to give a seminar on the "Passive House Approach" at Chicago's Green Technology Center.

Paul's laptop broke right before the scheduled lecture so he wasn't able to show his powerpoint presentation. That didn't stop him from giving a detailed account of how he goes about building single-family and multi-family homes. The homes he builds only use about 35 percent of the energy needed to cool and heat compared to conventionally built houses. He does this by implementing maximum thermal insulation. Some of the products he uses for the "hyper-insulation" or what's known as the "Passive Haus" approach are 2" styrene foam and 3" non-formaldehyde fiberglass for insulating the foundation. He even puts down an insulating pad on the soil before the foundation is poured. Other efforts include insulating his trim joists with soy insulation, using insulated recessed light cans, and insulating all wet walls. All of the insulation systems Paul uses in his projects are documented and pass energy audits. He ticks off many other green features in the video's below and is a developer to watch who is taking leadership in the green building movement.